Open source licenses: Everything you need to know
source: techcrunch.com/2025/01/12/open…
#foss #floss #software #copyright #copyleft #gnu #license #mit #apache #mozilla #opensource #knowledge #knowhow
Open source licenses: Everything you need to know | TechCrunch
Ever wanted to know the difference between Apache 2.0 and MIT? Or permissive and copyleft open source licenses? Read on.Paul Sawers (TechCrunch)
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Tom Grzybow
in reply to anonymiss • • •Open Source is not in the same category as Free Software. Open Source is Free as in Free Beer, while Free Software is a moral responsibility - an active process.
There's an ethos behind Free Software, but there's a cheap calculus behind Open Source.
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Tom Grzybow
in reply to anonymiss • • •Tom Grzybow
in reply to anonymiss • • •This article is full of falsehoods! The Apache License 2.0 license is not actually a “permissive license”, in that it is in fact more restrictive than the GPL(s)! The Apache license includes much the same provisions as the GPL3, only it adds on further restrictions upon your personal behavior regarding lawsuits, independent of the software itself! It’s one of the worst licenses out there.
Even this is false: “But the underlying Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is substantively available under the Apache 2.0 license” The core of Android is the Linux kernel, which is GPL2.
Note:
The OpenBSD project does not consider the Apache License 2.0 to be an acceptable free license because of its patent provisions. The OpenBSD policy believes that when the license forces one to give up a legal right that one otherwise has, that license is no longer free. Moreover, the project objects to involving contract law with copyright law, stating “…Copyright law is somewhat standardized by international agreements, cont
... Show more...This article is full of falsehoods! The Apache License 2.0 license is not actually a “permissive license”, in that it is in fact more restrictive than the GPL(s)! The Apache license includes much the same provisions as the GPL3, only it adds on further restrictions upon your personal behavior regarding lawsuits, independent of the software itself! It’s one of the worst licenses out there.
Even this is false: “But the underlying Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is substantively available under the Apache 2.0 license” The core of Android is the Linux kernel, which is GPL2.
Note:
The OpenBSD project does not consider the Apache License 2.0 to be an acceptable free license because of its patent provisions. The OpenBSD policy believes that when the license forces one to give up a legal right that one otherwise has, that license is no longer free. Moreover, the project objects to involving contract law with copyright law, stating “…Copyright law is somewhat standardized by international agreements, contract law differs wildly among jurisdictions. So what the license means in different jurisdictions may vary and is hard to predict.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_L…
free software license scheme developed by the Apache Software Foundation
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Tom Grzybow
in reply to anonymiss • • •The OSI is a California public-benefit nonprofit corporation, with 501©(3) tax-exempt status.[6] It adopted a closed rather than membership-driven organizational model
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Sou…
organization dedicated to promoting open-source software
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)hartwig
in reply to anonymiss • • •Open and Free Licenses should not wage a war between themselves. The common enemy is a completely deranged copyright concept as "intellectual property" which has destroyed the free exchange of ideas.
This nonsensical legal concept needs to be replaced by "fair use", punishing unfair use (unfair competition = free riders) profiting from the work and investment of others without proper compensation.
Open and Free Licenses are just a stop-gap measure that would not be necessary if copyright were to be reformed properly.
Khurram Wadee
in reply to anonymiss • • •Tom Grzybow
in reply to anonymiss • • •Tom Grzybow
in reply to anonymiss • • •... as for Copyright, I agree completely. Our copyright laws are a civic travesty, and an injustice to us all.
#freeculture
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